My Guilt
by Shawn45
Summary: She got to see the real world like she always wanted! She loved the sights, smells, and sounds of everything here! The only downside to coming here was that she had to kill Ib in order to take her place, but that's not that big of a deal, right? Right...?
1. My Guilt

My Guilt

Garry didn't want to believe this was real – he absolutely couldn't believe it was real. His hands shook as he walked down the long and darkened hallway, and his legs felt weak, but he continued to press forward. He had just emerged from the massive toy box that Mary shoved Ib and him into, and he saw over at the end of the hall where the stairs leading out were, a small figure laying against the wall. He broke into a sprint, tears threatening to come from his eyes as he realized that his worst fear was about to be realized. Oh god, please don't let that be who he thought it was! He reached the figure, and his exhausted legs gave way. Leaning against the wall was Ib, the girl he promised to get out of this hell hole. He reached forth and touched her cheek, and felt tears begin to fall.

"No... Don't be dead..." He pleaded, "Ib... Don't die on me!" He failed – there how could he have been so worthless in her time of need? He balled up his fists, and slammed it against the ground.

The girl in question opened her eyes, "G – Garry...?" He quickly looked up, and watched her head painfully look over to him, and she smiled, despite the obvious pain she was in, "H – Hello…"

"Ib! You're alive!" He cried, his heart lifting, "Oh thank god!" He couldn't help but reach forward and wrap the girl up in a hug, but she let out a cry of pain, and he immediately let go, watching as she panted, "Ib… Are you ok? Where's your rose?"

Her eyes started to close, "I – I think..." She coughed up some blood, causing Garry's eyes to widen in alarm, "Mary... Took my rose..."

"She couldn't have!" He shouted, "Please, tell me she isn't doing anything..." No… This couldn't be happening!

Ib coughed again, "I think... I – I'm..." She cringed in pain, reaching a hand up to place over her heart, and she let out a soft cry.

"Ib..." He muttered, reaching forward and patting her head, trying to think of anything that could ease her discomfort. Unfortunately, nothing was coming to mind.

"Here... Take this…" She reached into her pocket, and with the last bit of her strength, she pulled out a handkerchief and smiled up to him as she held it out towards him, "D – Don't... cry..."

Garry quickly brought his sleeve up to wipe away his tears, and took the handkerchief from the girl, whose arm dropped like a stone the moment he took it, "Y – yeah... Thank you."

Ib closed her eyes, "Good... bye..." She muttered, and he noticed she went completely still. He reached forward and patted her head again, but that only caused it to droop to the side. His heart froze, and he started to shake.

"Ib?" He whispered her name so quietly he doubted even the dead could have heard him saying it. He forced himself to speak louder, "Ib!" He tried again to get her attention. There was no answer. "Oh god, oh please, Ib… Come on…" Nothing he did could cause the girl to budge one bit, and he just continued to whisper prayers – anything he could think of to try and get her to wake up.

"C – Come on! We've got to get out of here!" He replied with as much mustered cheer as he could produce. He grabbed her hand, "I promised you I'd take you to my favorite cafe downtown... We can eat the Macaroons there, and it'll be fun!" The girl still sat there lifelessly, and her complete lack of any response started to make his hands begin to shake even harder, and he felt warm tears falling, he tried in vain to stop them, "I – Ib! Come on..." He reached forward and tenderly picked the girl up, being sure to gently pocket her gift to him, "We need to get out!" He knew in the back of his mind that it was futile, but he just didn't want to truly believe what happened.

He went up the stairs still gently holding the girl, and he noticed a door that was closed shut with vines. He was curious to see what was back there, but now was not the time, he had to escape with Ib. He noticed on the ground red rose petals however, and he began to follow them. There might be a chance that the rose wasn't completely destroyed. He absolutely refused to believe that the girl in his arms might be... _that_. "We'll find your rose!" He said to her, putting on a smile, tears still spilling from his eyes. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, "Then we can get out together!"

He walked with her down a new path, and found that it led up to an area that was almost exactly like the art museum they had been at before all this trouble began. "Look, Ib!" Garry said, "We're here! W – We can get out of here!" He continued to walk on, and finally stopped in front of the large painting called 'Fabricated World'. Looking through, he could see their world. His arms were tired from holding up the girl, so he laid her down besides the painting, smiling despite his tears, trying desperately to look positive.

"You're here!" Garry looked over his shoulder to see Mary there, but his eyes focused in on one thing: in her hands was a stem of a rose, with all the petals plucked off. His mind went blank, and he didn't even realize that he had collapsed to the floor on his knees.

"No..." He mumbled, looking down to Ib, and then back to the stem. It truly happened… He… He was a failure. He couldn't save Ib.

Mary shrugged, "I wanted the blue rose," She pointed to his, "But you weren't there, so I took the next best thing!" She smiled, "Red isn't my favorite color, but it's nice!"

"You killed her..." Garry muttered quietly, ignoring her rambling. That one thought just repeated over and over in his mind… She killed her. Why did Mary do it?

"What did you say?" Mary asked, looking curiously at him, "You whispered it so quietly I barely heard you!"

"You killed her!" He shouted, and he jumped back up to his legs and walked over to the girl, "I would have given you my rose! Why didn't you wait for her to find me? Why'd you k – kill..." He fell to the ground, bringing his hands up to his eyes as he let out a rattled gasp, "I – Ib... No…"

Mary smiled, "Don't worry! She'll be happy here!" Garry didn't respond to her. He was instead sucking in big breaths of air, and would shakily breathe it all out repeatedly. "She'll live on as a painting!" Mary assured him, "It's ok!"

"Just go..." He mumbled, shaking his head.

"That's the way out," She pointed to the painting behind him helpfully, "We can both get out now!" Garry was silent, causing Mary to shrug, "Whatever, I'm leaving." He didn't say anything again, instead he turned around to go over next to Ib, where he had grabbed her hand and was trying to talk to her in a pitiful attempt to wake her up. She couldn't hear what he was saying, but she could see tears coming from his eyes, and she frowned, unable to determine WHY he was doing that.

Mary watched it with mild interest for a few more seconds – humans were so weird! She then turned back to the big painting and grinned, she would become one of them if she were to go through! She could be a real girl and do real things, and maybe even start doing weird things herself! She couldn't help but giggle as she hurriedly climbed into the painting, disappearing to the other side.

Garry sat there next to Ib for what must have been hours. He finally moved, his lips trembling as he glanced over at her, "I'm so sorry..." Like before she was unmoving. "I – I -..." He let out a choked gasp, "I'm worthless..." He stood up, his hair covering his eyes as fresh tears fell from his eyes, and he looked over to the painting. "I'll get help..." He decided, "I don't know how, but I'll try to help you."

He walked over to the painting, and pressed his arm towards it, and it phased right through. He took one last look back at Ib's motionless body, and he began to climb, still shaking from his grief. Once inside the painting it felt like he was falling. He couldn't help but worriedly think about where he was going.

… Everything's going white...

… Ib.

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he looked around, "What the?" He wiped his eyes, and realized that he had been crying, but what for? He frowned, and looked up to the painting that he had been looking at – it was a very peculiar one, unlike anything else in the gallery. It depicted a little girl who couldn't have been more than ten years old, holding a red rose, her eyes shut, as if she were asleep. He frowned as he continued to examine it, for some reason the girl in the picture looked very familiar.

He pulled out his cellphone to check the time, "Oh man, I've better be going." He took one last glance at the picture, wondering how it provoked that kind of reaction out of him, before he headed towards the stairs to the first floor. When he walked down to the first floor, and went by the reception desk, he stopped – there stood a little girl in a green dress, blonde hair and blue eyes. She smiled at him as he passed, but he frowned, she also looked familiar.

"Do I know you?" He finally asked, unable to get the feeling to go away. He walked over to stand beside her.

"No." She answered, shaking her head, "We've never met!"

For some reason that provoked anger from him, but he quelled it down, "Are you waiting for someone?" He asked, looking out into the gallery, "You're a bit young to be here alone."

"My parents will be coming soon," She said, "I got bored lookin at all the pictures, but they're having fun." She rolled her eyes, "So now I'm waiting for them to come back."

"I – I see..." Something inside of him was screaming at him about this girl, but he just couldn't figure out what it was. Every time he tried to focus on the thought, it just disappeared. "Are you absolutely sure we've never met?" He questioned again.

She frowned as she looked back up at him, "Why? Do I look familiar?"

"I feel like we've met..." He muttered. The blonde hair, the green dress… He could vaguely remember something like that in his memories… What was it though…?

She shrugged apologetically, "I'm sorry, but we've never met."

He finally shook his head, and reached into his pocket again, and felt some fabric touching his fingers as he did so. Frowning, he pulled it out, and looked at it, in a corner was written 'Ib'. "Ib?" he said the name aloud.

The blonde haired girl jumped at that, "What did you say?" She looked up at Garry with wide eyes, and noticed that he was holding a handkerchief.

"Ib." He repeated, frowning towards her, "You know her?" He asked, turning his eyes away from the cloth back down at Mary. He was so close to figuring this out, it was frustrating the hell out of him that he still was having trouble though.

"Gimme that!" She cried, but Garry kept it out of her reach, "Gimme!" She gripped his coat with one hand, and then reached up with the other, her face forming a scowl, "Give it to me!"

"Why?" He asked in surprise, still keeping it away from her grasp. Usually he'd go ahead and give a kid something if they wanted it this much, but this girl… Something about this girl was telling him that if he gave it to her, he'd never remember.

"You can't remember!" She vocalized his thoughts, and his eyes widened. He knew now that no matter what, he couldn't give her the handkerchief.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded, trying to get some answers from her.

"Nothing! Just give that to me now!" She shook her head, and still gripped his coat tightly, trying to reach up for the cloth.

"Ib..." He tried really hard to think... He remembered a little girl giving it to him when he walked to her in a dark hall, but why was he there? He gritted his teeth, getting a worse headache the harder he tried to think of it, and then it came to him – Ib! She was dead...

"Gimme!" She continued to cry.

Garry startled Mary by snapping his head towards her so quickly that she jumped back from him, and he glared down at her, "You! You murdered Ib!" He pointed an accusing finger at her as he growled that out.

"No I didn't!" Mary said, crossing her arms, "She just went to sleep!" She knew that she didn't kill Ib – she didn't lay a single finger on her!

"Sleep?" He cried, "I can't believe I left her in there! I've got to go back!" He looked back towards the gallery, and went to take a few steps towards it, but he heard Mary begin to talk.

"You can't..." Mary told him, "Since I'm out here, that world doesn't exist anymore." She looked up at him with a smile, "That world was a part of me, and since I'm a human now, it doesn't exist!"

"W – wait..." He muttered, his breath getting caught in his throat as he turned his head to look back at her, "You mean..."

She smiled, "Yep! She's just a painting now and I'm real! She never existed!" Garry surprised even himself when he lunged himself at the girl and slammed her against the reception desk. The person behind it let out a startled yet, calling security immediately. Garry didn't care; he just glared at the little girl in front of him.

"Let go!" Mary cried in pain as he pressed her against the desk. She reached up and tried to claw his hands off of her shoulder, but he wouldn't budge.

"I..." Garry growled, "I should kill you..." He whispered the last bit so no one overheard. He could feel Mary begin to shake, perhaps feeling fear for the first time in her life. He cruelly smiled… Good. He was glad he could allow her to experience that much.

Mary shook her head, her eyes widening as she looked at him, "That would be pointless!" Garry wanted to say more, but he was tackled off the girl hard, he let out a gasp as he landed on the floor with a loud bang, and looked up to see a well-dressed man glaring down at him.

"Get the fuck away from my daughter!" He growled at Garry, taking a few steps towards him, his hands balled up into fists that were shaking in fury.

"Daughter?" Garry muttered quietly. He looked pass the man and saw that Mary was being held securely by a woman, who was rubbing Mary's hair and whispering to her. His mouth dropped open when he saw how similar the woman looked to Ib, and then his eyes darted back towards the man who had knocked him down. These were Ib's parents!

"If you take one more step towards her, I swear I will kill you." The man warned, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at Garry.

"Y – You took her parents?" He weakly asked. Mary didn't say anything, but he saw a slight smile cross her face. Garry got up to go to her again, but felt a fist slam into his chest, and he let out a pained cough, a coppery taste filling his mouth. He looked up to see the man had kept his word and started to beat him for going towards Mary. Garry felt tears of both pain and despair leaving his eyes – Mary would get away with this! She killed Ib and took her parents, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Kohta!" The woman holding Mary said sharply to the man who had punched Garry.

"I warned him!" Kohta yelled, slamming another fist into Garry's chest, before he pushed him back to the floor, "Leave. Now!"

Garry was sprawled out on the ground, unable to comprehend what was going on. He... He couldn't do anything. He felt cold, and glanced back to Mary, hatred burning in his eyes. How could this girl do such a thing? This was beyond evil – this was absolutely repulsive. His jaw shook with rage, and he managed to get up to his feet despite the pain he was in, and he saw several security guards surround both him and Ib's father.

"I'm going..." Garry told them weakly, reaching up to wipe the blood that coated his lip. The security escorted him, shortly after, leaving the family of three.

Mary frowned; she had absolutely no idea why Garry acted like that. Looking towards her dad, she walked over to him, "Daddy, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," He turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her, "Did that man do anything bad to you? Are you hurt?"

"He didn't do anything bad," Mary replied, shaking her head, "You came before he did anything to me."

"Good," He sighed, shaking his hands as the adrenaline began to wear off from his system He let go of Mary, and stood up, trying to compose himself.

"Kohta, what you did to him was assault." His wife reminded him, walking over hugging Mary too. She didn't want to admit it, but she was very worried for a moment there.

"I'll say it was in self-defense of my daughter," He replied, "That's if that coward decides to sue us anyway. I can't believe he tried to hurt Mary," He hugged his daughter once again once his wife had let go, "My baby girl, if anything bad had happened to you, I don't know what I would do."

"I'm ok!" Mary tried to reassure him, "Can we go get some ice cream?"

Kohta let out a short laugh, "Yeah, just let me talk to security a little bit so I can clear this mess up. Saya, I'll be right back." He nodded to her and went over to talk to the men standing around.

Mary looked to her mom, "Yay! We're getting ice cream!"

Saya smiled down at her daughter, and patted her head, "What flavor do you want to try first?"

"All of them!" Mary cried. Finally, finally she was going to do everything she wanted to do! She could barely contain her excitement, and she couldn't help but start laughing, since she was so happy. Her laughter was contagious, since shortly after Saya started to laugh at her daughter's antics.

XxXxXxX

Mary frowned as she woke up in the middle of the night for the third consecutive night in a row. It had now been almost a month since she visited the museum, and the nightmares had only just recently started. She couldn't even really remember them, but she had a feeling she couldn't quite identify inside of her every time she woke up from such dreams. She finally groaned, and got up and walked down the hall to her parent's room. She opened the door, and sneaked into bed with them, letting out a satisfied groan as she felt warm and secure between the two of them.

Her parents didn't mind her doing this, especially since she told them that it was nightmares.

It was when they continued to occur on a nightly basis for two weeks that she began to question if they were going to be a permanent addition to her life. She had been getting less and less sleep, and had just started to get up and play whenever the nightmares she couldn't identify woke her up. She was now reluctant to go to bed, because she knew that they would begin, and she didn't want to deal with them.

Mary opened her eyes again, and saw Ib at the end of her bed.

"Hello?" Mary said, a little nervous to see the girl there.

She let out a startled scream when she saw Ib suddenly collapse, as if there was a harlequin that had cut the strings holding her up.

Mary shot up in bed, and let out a shaky breath. That was the first nightmare she could clearly remember, and she saw Ib in it. What did that mean? She frowned – Ib was happy in the museum! She was a painting that thousands, maybe even millions of people could now see and enjoy! Isn't that what everyone would want?

She ignored the fact that she hadn't wanted that.

She was laying down in bed one morning a few weeks later when she saw her mother getting up, so she threw off her sheets and ran after her mother into the kitchen.

"Mary?" Saya said, seeing her daughter darting at her, "Are you still having bad dreams?"

"No!" Mary said, not wanting to concern her loving mother, "I heard you walk by and I wanted to see what you were doing!"

"I'm going to make myself some tea," Her mother replied, "Would you like some?"

"Sure!" Mary said, pushing down all the thoughts that had been plaguing her mind and sitting at the table with her mother, sipping the tea that the woman had prepared for her.

"Do you want to go out today?" Saya asked.

Mary smiled, "Sure! Where are we going?"

"We can go out to eat If you want." Saya said smiling at her daughter, "Is there anything that you feel like eating?"

"Oh, I want to try Mexican food!"

Saya blinked at that, "Mexican?"

"I want to try everything!" Mary said, "There's so many different foods!"

"There are." Her mother said, sipping some of her tea, slowly waking up, "If that's what you want, we'll do that."

Mary was ready very quickly, running to her room and throwing on a sundress that her parents had gotten for her a month ago, and she looked around for anything else, finding a fancy hat that she desperately wanted to try on, since she had never worn one before. She looked around her room and found some sandals, and threw those on, smiling when she noticed they fit her perfectly! She went downstairs, where her mother was still just waking up.

"We're not leaving for a few hours," Her mother told her gently.

"Awww..." Mary let out, "That's like in a million years!"

Saya chuckled, "Watch TV or play outside."

Mary frowned as she went into her family's living room where the TV was located and turned it on. Being an only child absolutely sucked! She really wished she had someone to play with her. Not letting that dampen her spirits however, she forced herself to smile, and she went to turn on the TV, fascinated with how the pictures moved. She would never understand how people took this for granted!

After amusing herself for another hour or two, Mary's mother was finally ready to take her out to eat, and the two went by bus.

Mary eagerly put change in so she and her mother could ride, and smiled as she took a seat near the window and watched the world pass by quickly before her. This was another thing that absolutely amazed her – how fast cars were! She didn't even know that things could even go this fast, and she heard that there were planes in the air that could go ten times as fast!

"Come on, Mary." He mother said, grabbing her hand and getting off at a stop downtown. Mary looked around, the sight of so many people was still a novelty for her. She didn't realize that THIS many people could gather in one place! How was there even room for everyone? She continued to look around like an excitable child when she went into the Mexican restaurant at the corner of one street.

Inside, there were several people eating with friends, laughing, whispering, yelling, anything she could imagine she saw.

"Do you want to sit by the window?"

"Yeah!" Mary said eagerly.

When it came to ordering food, Mary had picked a burrito, having absolutely no idea what in the world that was. Her mother had been a little more reserved, simply picking some rice, saying that they would share the burrito together. Mary wasn't sure what to make of the food when it first arrived – it looked so much different than what she was used to! She eagerly took a bite, and then another, and another...

"It looks like you really like it."

Mary nodded, "It's good!"

"I'm glad." Saya said, "Don't eat too fast though, or else you'll get a stomachache.

Mary heeded her mother's warning, remember how little fun the first one she had gotten was.

After eating, the two left the store and continued to walk down the street, where they stopped at a store, "I'm going to go in and look at some thing," Saya had said, "Do you want to come in with me?"

Mary opened her mouth to speak, but across from the store she saw a park, but more specifically she saw a person on a bench at the park, looking up to the sky doing nothing. His hair was purple, and he wore ragged clothes.

"Mary?"

"Oh?" Mary snapped back to attention, "Um, no. I'll stay out here. Can I go to the park?"

"I don't know..." Her mother mumbled, clearly hesitant to allow her daughter out alone.

"I promise I will be good!" Mary said.

Saya sighed, "Fine. But be careful! And if anyone tries to lead you off somewhere, or offer you anything, you say -."

"No!" Mary said, finishing her sentence for her, "Yeah, I know."

Saya gave her a pat on the head, "Good, now go have fun."

Once her mother left, Mary wandered over to the park where she saw the man on the bench with his eyes closed. Once at the bench, she sat down beside him, smiling all the while. She took a deep breath and yelled out, "BOO!"

Garry lurched forward, almost falling off the seat, but he stabilized himself quickly enough. He glanced over to the girl beside him, and his bewildered glance turned to a cold glare, "You."

"Hi!" Mary said.

Garry stood up and started to walk away.

"Hey! Wait!" Mary got up, following him, "I need to ask you something!"

Garry stopped and looked back, and Mary noticed that he looked like he hadn't shaved in quite a while, and under his eyes were a little blackened. Why was he like that? There is nothing bad going on in his life, surely!

"Go away." He said, "I have no desire to talk with you."

"I've been having nightmares," She said quickly, "Why?"

"Why?" He repeated, "Maybe it's because you're a little monster." He began to walk away again.

"That's mean!" Mary gasped, "You're rude!"

"Go away!"

"Wait!" She grabbed his ragged jacket, "How do I make them go away? They're not letting me sleep!"

"Give me one good reason I should help you."

"Because you're nice?"

He grunted, "I'm not helping you, now go away."

Garry reached into his pocket and pull out a pack of cigarettes, in his other hand was a lighter which he used to light it up and he took a quick drag, puffing it out in a long sigh. He then walked away, leaving Mary there alone.

"What a horrible person!" Mary grumbled. Everyone else was so nice to her! Why was he like that?

"Mary?"

She turned to see her mother coming for her, "Momma!"

Saya chuckled, "Let's go, while we're out we might as well get you some school supplies."

Mary cheered. She LOVED school! She made so many friends, and they all played together, and it was so fun! If only she could go there every day!

As they walked down the sidewalk, Mary took one last glance back towards where she last saw Garry. Seeing nothing, she hurried to catch back up with her mother, and reached out for her hand.

XxXxXxX

Mary wasn't sure what she was looking at, but she had to make sure that this wasn't another nightmare, so she pinched her arm hard. When she registered the pain, she looked back up at Ib, who was simply standing there watching her.

"Hello?"

No answer.

Mary frowned and shook her head, walking into her kitchen and emptying the contents of her backpack onto the table in there, sitting down on a nearby chair and got started on her homework. She had just entered middle school, and the teachers were expecting so much from her already! It wasn't nearly as fun as elementary school at all! The eleven year old girl let out a groan when she couldn't figure out a problem, and looked up from the table to see Ib was still just watching her.

"What do you want?" Mary asked curiously.

No answer.

"Why aren't you at the museum?"

Nothing.

Mary looked back down at her math assignment, moving onto the next problem, but her eyes kept glancing up to Ib. Was she real? Why was she just staring at her? She couldn't focus!

"Go away!" Mary shouted, throwing a nearby book at Ib. The book sailed through the air, and went right through the girl, fortunately she just faded away on her own. Mary let out a relieved sigh when that happened, and went to pick up her math book and opened it back up to the page she had been assigned for homework.

The next day was the same, except Ib appeared at a different place. She was coming home from school talking to her friends on the way back, when she saw Ib at the end of the sidewalk. Mary stopped right in her tracks, causing her friends to stop as well and look towards her questioningly.

"I – I got to go." Mary said, "I forgot something at school."

"Really?" One of her friends asked.

Mary nodded, "I'm really sorry!" She said, and she took off the opposite way.

Ib made a habit of appearing daily now, whenever Mary was just starting to forget about her last appearance she would pop up. What made it worse is that each night before she went to bed, Ib would be standing at the end of her bed just staring at her. Mary found herself creeping under her covers and curling up, hoping that she would just go away.

It was a Sunday, a day Mary had absolutely no school, but she dearly wish she did. Everywhere she went in the house, Ib would be there, staring at her with an absolutely emotionless face. Mary finally went up to the one that appeared in her room.

"Go away!"

No answer, as expected.

Mary began to grind her teeth together, "What do you want from me? Why are you here?"

Silence.

"Please..." Mary begged, "Go away. I already see you every night in my dreams, do you have to haunt me during the day too? Please, please, please, please go away!" Tears were forming in her eyes, "I can't stand it anymore! I think I'm going crazy!"

No response.

Mary let out a scream, and attempted to hit Ib, but her hands just passed through ib, and the image disappeared. Despite the fact that Ib was gone, Mary continued to scream, slamming her fists on the floor over and over, "WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE?!"

Her door was thrown open, and her mother rushed in, "Mary? Mary what is it?"

Mary turned to look at the woman, "N – Nothing, mom." She said, despite the fact that she was shaking and tears were streaming down her face, "I stubbed my toe."

Her mother frowned, "Are you ok? You've been acting weird for the past few weeks now."

Mary wanted to just tell her about the images she had been seeing, but she held it back. She didn't want her to think she was insane, she heard that insane people were taken to a special place, and that she wouldn't be able to go to school or do anything fun anymore.

"It's nothing." Mary opted to say again, standing up, "I'm going out for a bit."

"Mary? Are you really sure? You know I'm here for you."

"Yes!" Mary said roughly, "I'm sure. I'm leaving!"

Her mother watched in worry as her daughter walked out of her room. She knew something was wrong with her, but she was at a loss of what to do for her. Maybe Kohta would know?

Mary marched down the stairs, ignoring Ib as she walked by her on the way out of the front door, and she nearly ran the second she got outside. She just had to get away. A little fresh air should surely set her mind at ease! She walked down the sidewalk, and took the bus to downtown, just aimlessly allowing her feet to carry her wherever she could go. She was so preoccupied in her thoughts, that she nearly missed seeing a purple-haired man walking down the opposite end of the sidewalk.

He was the ONLY one who would know what she was talking about, so she hurried over to him, and grabbed his arm, "Garry!"

The taller man looked down, a half-smoked cigarette was in his mouth. He frowned the moment he noticed the green dress. He realized by the color alone who it was, and he started to try walking forward again.

Mary unfortunately had a firm grip on his arm, "Please, I need to talk to you!"

"What can you possibly need to talk to me about?" He asked, the venom in his voice was still just as vile towards her as it had been two years ago, and she distinctly smelled alcohol on his breath. She again noticed that he really needed to shave, but she shoved that thought aside – it wasn't important.

"You're the only one who would know what I'm talking about!" She began, "It's about Ib."

That had been the wrong thing to say, Garry pulled his arm out of her grip, and continued on his way.

"Please!" She called.

"No." He answered, walking away.

Mary started to breath really fast – he was the only one who could help her at this point, explain what was wrong, and he absolutely refused to! She began to shake as she ran ahead of him, and dropped down on her knees, "Please! Please hear what I have to ask..." She started to cry, she was so desperate for his help.

Garry gritted his teeth, glancing around seeing people walking by giving him and Mary odd looks. He finally growled out, "Fine. What."

Mary let out a shaky breath, "I – I keep seeing Ib! In my dreams, and now I'm seeing her around my house, in school, EVERYWHERE!" She screamed, "She won't go away no matter what I do!"

"What about it?" He asked impatiently.

"Why? Why am I seeing her? In my dreams and outside now! I need to know, I'm going to go insane if I don't figure out why!" She explained through her tears.

Garry shook his head, "That would be a fitting end for you."

"Garry!" She cried out, "Please..."

Garry saw the nervous wreck she was in front of him, and he finally let out a sigh, "It's guilt."

"What?"

"You feel guilty."

"Why?"

"Because you killed her." He answered, "I've got to go."

"Wait!" She stopped him again, "Why do I feel guilty? I did nothing wrong!"

"You killed her." He repeated louder, causing more people to stare at them, "How does that not add up for you?"

"But she's a painting," She pressed, "She'll live forever."

Garry had to try really hard not to hit the girl, so he took a really long drag of the cigarette in his hand and counted down in his head, "Ok. Look." He said, looking down at Mary, "Did you want to stay there forever?"

"I had friends there." Mary stated.

"But would you like to stay forever?"

"I'm happy to be here though." Mary stated, evading the question.

Garry curled his lips in disgust and started to walk away, "You're a very selfish girl. Think about others for once – put yourself in their shoes."

Mary didn't stop him this time, and only watched him continue to walk away. She thought hard about what Garry said, could she be feeling guilty?

"No..." She mumbled, "That can't be it."

She had plucked Ib's rose so she could get out. She had wanted to do it to Garry's, but she didn't know where he was, and she wanted to be able to ensure that she would be able to go to the real world, so she unfortunately had to use Ib's.

She absolutely loved the real world! She loved her parents! She loved school, her friends, meeting new people, trying new foods, going out in the sun, the snow, everything! Is... Is that why she felt guilt then? Is it because she took all of that away from Ib?

She continued to walk, examining the thought closer – From Garry's reaction that day, she knew that her current parents were Ib's. They were very loving and kind, and they accepted her without a doubt. She tried to do as Garry asked, to put herself in their shoes. How would she feel if her daughter was no longer alive?

Sad.

She frowned. How did she feel knowing that she had pretty much taken Ib's spot in the real world? She was happy to experience it, but it was... sad... that Ib had to... go to sleep for it to happen. She started to shake, and finally began to understand what the feeling was, what feeling guilty meant. She felt bad. She clutched at her beating, human heart, and felt tears welling up in her eyes. This was the feeling that had been plaguing her for years.

"I – I killed her..." She whispered, truly understanding what Garry had been saying all along.

His hate... It was justified.

She got onto the bus after wandering the town for a little while, and came home to an empty house. Her mother – no, Ib's mother – had left her a note on the kitchen table, telling her to help herself to some food. Mary ignored it, in favor of going into the kitchen and opening a drawer, where there was a particularly sharp knife.

This immense guilt she felt.

It had to end.

She stood there, and noticed from the corner of her eye that Ib was impassively watching her. She lifted up her other arm, and her hand holding the knife was shaking violently, but she steadied herself, and closed her eyes as she gashed at herself, intending to end it all. She felt pain and... Nothing else, just a mild pain. She opened her eyes, and noticed that there was only a shallow mark on her arm where she cut herself, nowhere near deep enough to kill.

"I – I don't want to die..." She mumbled, the knife tumbling out of her hand and clattering as it hit the kitchen floor, "This... Is this what she felt like when she was about to die?" When she had thought she was going to kill herself, there was absolute despair in her heart, and her mind was endlessly telling her not to do it.

"I... I'm a monster..." She whispered.

She took a look at Ib, and promptly collapsed to the floor, letting out choked sobs as she curled her knees towards her.

"I didn't want to stay there forever, so I made Ib suffer that fate?" She continued to cry, "I understand why Garry hates me so much..."

She continued crying, and only composed herself enough so that she could put the knife away and rush up to her – no, Ib's – room before Ib's parents could see her as a complete mess. The life she had, while she enjoyed it, was a complete lie. She had just taken Ib's place, and she didn't know what to do anymore.

XxXxXxX

She stopped paying attention in school – she didn't deserve this. She had murdered someone to be here, she felt absolutely sick to her stomach. She only ate when she absolutely had to, or when Ib's parents would force her to do so. She didn't talk with her friends anymore, and the few attempts her friends made towards conversation she ignored. Soon, she was alone.

She deserved no less.

Ib still visited her every night in her dreams, and still showed up every day in her house, at school, anywhere really, but she simply ignored it now. If she even glanced at the nine year old girl, she would begin to cry, and she didn't want to do that, she had done enough of that already. She simply went to school every morning, not paying attention, not doing the work, or anything productive. She refused to be happy, considering what she subjected Ib to.

The years continued on, she got through Middle School with barely passable marks, and was fortunately able to get into a high school. She lost weight, becoming almost severely underweight, and her social life became non-existent. She didn't care about anything anymore. She continued to dive deeper and deeper into her depression, with no light at the end of the tunnel.

After all, a monster like her deserved no less.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

FIRST HALF OF CHAPTER 1 REVISED: 7/21/2013 - Added in a lot more detail, and combined a lot of sentences. This chapter had 1.1k additional words added to it.

I'll get around to revising the second half and the rest of the story soon.


	2. My Depression

My Depression

School let out, and Mary walked out, hanging her head as she headed towards the school gates. Her arms hung loosely by her sides, and everyone avoided her as they walked out, not even giving the girl a second glance.

It had been a month now since she had entered High School, and news about her spread quickly. While a few people approached her the first few days to try and befriend her, Mary would look away and completely ignore them. Her performance in class was doing just as poorly as it was in Middle School, due to the fact that she always hung her head down and stared blankly at the page in front of her. When called upon to answer a question, she would ignore it, and continue to stare blankly. Now even her professors had given up on her.

She walked down the sidewalk, and she noticed from her peripheral vision that Ib was standing at the end of the sidewalk she was walking down. She simply turned around – it wouldn't be the first time she took the long way to Ib's house.

Trudging through downtown, she noticed that Ib was again standing ahead of her, so she took the nearest turn, taking an even longer detour to her home. She gripped her fist, and loosened it, trying not to shake when she again saw Ib at the end of this sidewalk. She lifted her head for the first time, glancing around with her lifeless eyes – to the right was Ib was as well, and when she looked behind, she was there too.

"Why?" She wondered to herself. Her lips trembled as she went the only possible way that was left open for her.

She pushed through the crowd, and finally came out to a park. She glanced around, and saw that Ib was nowhere nearby. Had the girl been leading her here? She walked along the sidewalk and finally saw someone she knew well. The man had purple hair, and was very rugged. The people walking made a very large berth, since he was taking swigs from a bottle rapidly.

She frowned, and at the very back of her head, she was pleased that she wasn't the only one suffering so badly. She had actually seen him around town occasionally, but never went to talk with him. There were days where he looked fine, and then there were days like these where he became a wreck. It seemed random, and Mary had no idea how to identify which days were which for him.

She went to walk away from him again, but when she turned around, Ib was standing right behind her, looking up at her.

Mary shook upon seeing the nine year old girl there, "What do you want me to do?"

Ib offered no answer, like every other time.

"Do you want me to talk to him?"

Ib's eyes flickered over to Garry briefly before settling back on Mary.

Mary nearly jumped in surprise – that was the most that the image of Ib had ever done. She frowned and turned back towards Garry, blinking rapidly. She didn't want to talk to him... She just wanted to go home and sleep... She turned back to Ib, "I don't wanna..."

Ib impassively stared at her.

Mary started to cry, not caring that there were people around her, "I'm sorry, ok?"

Nothing.

"I – I want to die... But I'm too cowardly to go through with it..." She cried harder, "M – Maybe..." She turned to look at Garry, and she bit her bottom lip, feeling her body walking towards him almost unconsciously.

Garry noticed her immediately, and only stared at her, taking a quick drink from the bottle of vodka he was holding.

"Garry."

He looked aside, "What do you want?"

"Y – You know..."

Garry continued looking away.

"I – I killed her, and I – I liked it."

Garry looked over to her, his mouth was ajar in shock.

"You're an idiot! You just HAD to remember, didn't you? If you didn't say anything, it could have just been like a dream! But no, you remembered, and look where that got you! You're a worthless drunk on the side of the road! No one cares about you at all!" She was building up more and more volume as she talked, tears streaking down her face.

"Why are you...?" Garry was too bewildered to be mad.

"I took her life, her parents, EVERYTHING! It's all mine! Don't you hate me? Don't you want me to die?" She shouted, "While you are sitting there wasting away, I'm enjoying life! I love m- my family! My house..."

She furiously wiped her eyes, "Just kill me!"

Garry frowned, "No."

"Why not?" She shouted in despair, "Kill me!"

Garry was silent as he looked at her. Though not sober, his mind was still working in overdrive, "You want to die?"

"W – Why would I want to die?" She bluffed, "I just want you... to..." She let out a hiccup, "to know how..."

He shook his head, "I can't believe you're making me feel sorry for you." He got to his feet, "I'm leaving."

"No!" She shouted, falling to the ground grabbing her head and curling inwards, "I – I – I can't stand it anymore! She's dead... She'll always be dead..."

Garry walked away again, leaving her crying to herself.

Mary felt a hand touch her shoulder, and she knocked it away, looking up to see an older man looking at her with concern, "Go away!" She shouted, she looked around to see everyone looking at her, "Stop looking! GO AWAY!"

Most of the people started to go away, and Mary picked herself off of the ground and started back on her way to Ib's home, sniffling and trying to keep composed. Fortunately, she didn't see Ib at all the entire time, if she had, she doubted she could have kept herself together long enough to get to Ib's house.

As she entered the front door, she noticed that her parents were gone, which was just fine with her. She walked to her room, and closed the door behind her. She walked up to her bed, reached her arm underneath the mattress, pulling out a knife she had hidden under there. She sat down on the bed, and pulled down the long sleeve of her shirt, revealing many scars running up along the length of her arm. She brought the knife and dug it into her skin, creating a new scar to the collection, again, she noted that it was too shallow.

"Damn it..." She whispered.

She looked at the knife again.

"I don't want to live..." She thought, bringing it back up again, "I should just end it."

Ib was standing at her doorway now, just watching, like she always did.

"Come to watch the finale?" Mary spat out.

No answer.

"I hate you..." Mary mumbled, "I hate you! I hate you! Why did you have to start appearing in my life? Why couldn't you just die like a normal person? Why do I have to feel like this when I think about killing you?" She let out a gasp, "I wish I had died! I didn't realize that becoming a normal human would mean that I would feel like this! I wanted to try out new foods, see the sky!" She looked towards Ib, "You understand, right? You'd want out too!"

She forced out a bitter laugh, "I got all that, but the price was too high."

Ib again made no reaction.

"You wanted to let Garry be the one to kill me." Mary stated, "I'm sorry, I tried... I really did... But he didn't even strike me... He said he felt SORRY FOR ME!" She screamed out the last bit, stabbing the knife into her mattress, "I hate him too!"

Ib was closer now when Mary looked up.

"So I'm just going to end it here." Mary decided, showing the spirit, ghost, whatever, her arm, "I've tried practically every week for over a year now," She put the knife down, and revealed her other arm, "See? I... I feel... so bad... I don't deserve to live." She let out a sob, "I tried to end it all so many times, but I'm afraid... I don't want to die."

Ib came closer.

"That is what you felt like, right?" Mary asked, "You didn't want to die, but I heartlessly killed you. I wonder if this is what you felt when you realized that there was nothing that could be done to save you?" She put her hand on her heart, feeling it beating rapidly, "Did your heart feel like it would explode? Did you feel like a trapped animal?"

Mary let out a sigh, and picked up the knife.

"I'm done." She decided, "I've been holding this day off for a while, but I knew it would eventually come to this."

Ib's eyes looked towards the knife.

"Ah..." Mary held out the knife, watching Ib's eyes look at it, "D – Do you want to do it?"

Ib's gaze locked into Mary's eyes.

"No..." Mary said, "I suppose not. I guess this is goodbye."

Ib was back to just staring at her.

Mary held out her arm, and gripped her fist to try and stop the shaking. She poked the area she was going to stab, causing a little bit of blood to come out, and she let out a smile, "I hope I won't feel anything anymore when I die." She swung the knife down, fully intending to sever her artery. She looked away and closed her eyes, too afraid to watch.

She felt nothing.

She opened her eyes, and looked at her hand, and saw that Ib had reached out and took hold of the hand with the knife, preventing her from stabbing herself. Mary dropped the knife, letting it hit her carpeted floor, and she just looked at Ib, "Why?"

"Don't die."

Mary let out a surprised gasp, and stared wide eyed at Ib, "What?"

Nothing. Did she just hear that in her head?

"Ib..." She collapsed to the floor in front of the spirit, "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I – I should have never killed you! I shouldn't have stolen your parents, or your room, or house!" She cried out louder, "I feel horrible! I'm a monster! Why don't you let me die? I deserve it! There is nothing I can do to change this! Do you want me to live with this guilt my whole life as punishment?"

Ib just stood there like she always did.

"Why are you appearing? What do you want from me?"

No answer.

She looked up, "How can I repent?! If you won't let me die, then how?!"

Silence.

"If you hate me so much... Why not just let me die?"

Ib shook her head.

"What?" Mary asked, "Y – You do hate me, right?"

Again, she shook her side to side.

"Wha... Why? Why not?!"

Ib just stared at her again.

"I deserve your hatred! I stole EVERYTHING from you!"

No answer again.

"If you don't hate me... Then..." She trembled as she stood, "Then why are you here...?"

Ib pointed towards the closet.

Mary blinked as she looked over towards it, and walked over, opening the door. She shoved aside dozens of dresses that Ib's mom had bought for her to try and make her feel better, and found a box in the back. She brought it back out, and in the middle of the floor she opened it, putting her knife far aside for now. Inside were a bunch of drawings that a little child would draw, Mary frowned, picking one up.

The picture depicted a scene of a little girl with red eyes and brown hair with two taller people, probably her parents, by her side outside of a nice little home.

"Wait..." Mary mumbled, "These... Are pictures that you drew?"

The ghostly apparition nodded.

"These are all that remain of you from this world..." Mary mumbled, shuffling through them, they seemed to go back to Ib's early years, and Mary again felt the immense guilt – she had killed this girl who loved to draw, and loved her parents so much.

Mary picked up a crayon from the box, and was surprised when Ib took it out of her hands, and sat down across from her on the floor, and flipped over one of the pictures. Mary watched in fascination as the ghost that had been haunting her for years wrote out a sentence, 'Do not be sad'.

"I don't understand..." Mary admitted, "I – I thought you were here because you wanted me to regret what I did to you, and never forget..."

'No. You brought me here.'

"What?" Mary gasped, "I – I'm the reason you're here?"

'Yes'.

"Why?"

'You feel guilty'.

Mary covered her eyes with her hands, "I've told you before... I killed you... I shouldn't have done that... You and Garry should have been the ones to escape..."

'No'.

"No? No what?"

'I want you and Garry to be happy'.

"You're not mad that I- I stole your life?"

'No'.

Mary couldn't comprehend that at all, "You should be. I – I'm a horrible person! A monster! None of this is mine! I hate myself! I want to die!"

'NO'. Ib's apparition was frowning.

"What do you want me to do?"

'Be happy'.

"I can't..." She cried, "I don't think I can ever be happy..."

'Help Garry.'

"Why?" Mary asked, "He hates me! I don't think he would let me help him anyway."

'He's in trouble'.

Mary thought about it, "He has been drinking a lot every time I've seen him."

'He feels guilty'.

"What?" Mary asked, "How?!"

'Thinks he should have died'.

Mary blinked, her mouth dropping open. Her stray thought from earlier, when she sadistically thought about how happy she was that she wasn't the only one suffering, was that more spot on than she initially realize? Garry was feeling guilty? Why? He had tried to help Ib! He was the one who condemned her like the monster she was! She couldn't understand how he could feel guilty!

'Let your guilt go'.

Mary frowned, picking up the nearest picture, and turning it around to see the image a five year old Ib had drawn, and had probably shown excitedly to her mom and dad, "I should show your parents these... So they remember you..."

Ib shook her head.

"No...?"

'Better if they don't remember'.

"But no one will remember you ever existed!" Mary cried, "You're a good person! You deserve more than being completely erased from every record! I'm going to show these to your parents! They need to know that I'm not the little 'angel' or 'saint' or whatever they like to call me!" She gasped for breath, "They need to know how worthless I am!"

Mary let out a surprised yelp when the picture she was holding ignited on fire, as did a majority of the rest of Ib's drawings. She looked up at Ib, and noticed the girl smiling for the first time she had started to see her.

'Be happy. They are your parents'.

Mary felt her lips trembling, "I don't think I can..."

'Try'.

"O – Ok..." Mary said, wiping her eyes, "I'll try."

'Help Garry'. Ib wrote down again on the last remaining paper.

"I will..." Mary promised, "I'll do whatever I can."

Mary wiped her eyes again, and opened them, and Ib was gone. She looked around her room, not seeing her anywhere, and finally looked down to see that there was one last picture remaining. Mary gently picked it up, and turned it around.

The picture was roughly drawn with crayons again, but unlike all of the other pictures, this one was recently made. Mary stood to the right in the image, the picture depicting her with a happy smile, and Garry stood to the left, also drawn with a large smile. Across the top, in big red bold letters were 'Be Happy'.

Mary blinked to get the tears to go away, and she placed the picture at the tip of her bed.

She would try to be happy for Ib, especially since that was the girl's last wish.

XxXxXxX

Mary decided to eat dinner with Ib's family that night, since she thought it would be a good first step towards becoming happy. When she walked down the stairs to confront them, they had been very surprised to see that she was out of her room.

"Um... What's for dinner...?" She asked quietly, making sure she wore a long-sleeve shirt to hide the scars she obtained over the years.

"Mary?" Saya said, her eyes widening when she saw her daughter.

"Hello..." Mary gave a hesitant wave. Doubts were going through her mind – was this the right thing to do? Should she even bother wasting her time doing this?

She was surprised when the woman gave her a hug, "Oh, Mary." She said, "We'll have whatever you want."

"I – I'm fine with whatever you want." Mary said.

Saya frowned, but shook her head, she was just glad that her daughter was talking to them again and not moping around in her room all day. No matter what she did, her daughter refused to talk, and even claimed at one point that she wasn't theirs! True, they did adopt her, but to say something so absurd made her incredibly sad and angry – the insistence that she wasn't their daughter due to blood was a non-issue as far as she was concerned.

"Saya?" Mary said questioningly.

"It's mom," Saya said, "Just call me mom."

Mary frowned, "I'll try."

"That's all I ask." Saya said, getting up and walking with Mary into the kitchen. Kohta was up and about, doing some paperwork at the table, and he noticed Mary walking in with his wife. He lifted a brow as his daughter came over to sit by his side.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm feeling better." She admitted, which was true, she hadn't seen Ib once so far since talking with the girl.

"Good to know," Kohta said, putting aside a note he had been writing, "Your mother and I have been quite worried for some time now."

"I know, but I think I'm ready to get over it."

"Get over what?"

She knew she couldn't tell them about how she was responsible for murder – not that they would believe her anyway, so she just shrugged, "Stuff."

"Did you take your antidepressants?" Saya asked, walking in.

Mary shook her head, "No, I'll take them after dinner."

Dinner was very quiet that night, no one really knowing what to say. Kohta would occasionally give Saya a glance, but the two didn't say anything as they kept an eye on their daughter. Mary was simply looking down at her food, and eating more in a single meal than she had since she could really recall. She didn't eat much though, since she was so thin now, so she finished eating well before her parents, and went to put her dishes away and take her pills.

She opened the pills which were worthless for her, but she didn't bother disputing the fact, not wanting to argue with Saya or Kohta, so she went ahead and took them.

"It's good to eat dinner together again." Saya said, coming in with her own dishes.

"I guess." Mary shrugged, "It was awkward."

"It's because you haven't been out of your room in so long." Saya explained, "It was just a bit of a shock to see you willingly eat with us."

Mary bit her bottom lip, and looked aside, "I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Saya assured her.

"No, there's a lot to be sorry about." Mary countered, wishing she could tell the woman in front of her about the daughter she once had. How good the girl was, how smart she was, and how kind she was, but there was no proof remaining anymore, and the woman wouldn't remember no matter what, regardless of what she did, since she didn't go into Guertena's world. She blinked rapidly to stop her tears from falling – she had done enough crying as it was.

"What's wrong?" Saya asked.

"N- nothing." Mary said, inwardly cursing when her voice shook.

"You know you can talk to me about whatever you need, right?" Saya placed her arm on Mary's shoulder, "You're my daughter after all."

"No..." Mary cried, "No I'm not..."

"Mary." Saya spoke sternly, "We're not going over this again, you hear? I love you regardless of whether we're related by blood or not!"

Mary shook in place, wondering if she would be able to do as Ib asked of her, her hands started to shake, and she thought back to the knife she had in her room. Maybe she should...

"I love you," Saya wrapped her arms around her, interrupting her darkening thoughts, "No matter what happens, I always will."

"Would you be saying that if I told you that I murdered your real daughter?" Mary asked, "A daughter related to you by blood?"

"What are you talking about?" Saya asked.

"A - A nightmare." Mary mumbled, unable to tell the full truth. However, even getting that out made her feel better – it wasn't exactly the truth, but it wasn't necessarily a lie either.

"I don't know how I'd feel in that situation." Saya answered, "Sad, angry, depressed?" She listed off emotions she might feel, "I don't know."

"So you'd hate me then?" Mary asked.

"In that instance..." Saya sighed, realizing that this meant a lot to her daughter for some odd reason, "I would need to know a motivation."

"To escape." Mary said and continued to elaborate, "To escape a prison with no other way out. There's no food, sunshine, human interaction or anything. It's just a big nightmare that I was stuck in for eternity. I'd have to murder someone to take my place so I could leave, and your daughter was the first person in decades to appear."

"In that case, the murderer's motivation is sympathetic." Saya said, "But even so, to subject my daughter to all of that?"

Mary's lip trembled. She knew it, she was a monster, she was a horrible, horrible person.

"I suppose I could be thankful that the murderer wanted to kill them then, instead of leaving them there alive." Saya answered, "The thought of someone being left in a nightmare like that alive is heartbreaking, so the nicest thing a person can do to escape would be to kill the person they are replacing in there, so they don't have to be subjected to that torment either."

"I still killed her though," Mary sobbed, "I still feel guilty."

"If the murderer apologized to me, and explained their motivation, and went on to do good in their life," Saya said, "Then perhaps I could understand them, and even support them." She shook her head, "Why do you think of such depressing things?"

Mary got onto the floor, "I'm so, so, so sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry," She repeated, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Mary, stop it." Saya reached down and lifted her off the kitchen floor back to her own feet, "You're making me upset talking like this."

Mary stood, "I – I promise, I'll do good, I'll try to make things right."

Saya tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

Mary shook her head, "Nothing."

She sighed, "Mary, these past few years I've had a very hard time understanding you."

"I'm sorry," Mary mumbled.

"Stop apologizing," Saya said, "I don't know what has gotten into you, but I want you to understand this: I love you, I always will. I've known you for almost twelve years now, and I never, NEVER regretted adopting you. Please, stop acting like this and become happy again like you used to be."

Mary's eyes widened when she heard the same request that Ib had for her in what Saya said, and she nodded, "I'll try."

"That's the best I can hope for," Saya smiled, "Now can you give you mother a hug?"

Tentatively, Mary reached forward and wrapped her arms around her mother awkwardly, and gave Ib's – no, her mother – a hug. Ib said it was all right, Saya herself was saying it was all right, so that meant it wasn't wrong to think of her as her mother, right?

"T – Thank you... M – Mom."

Saya's eyes widened, and she hugged her daughter tightly, "I love you."

"I – I love you too..." Mary said, feeling hot tears leaving her eyes yet again. When they parted, she noticed that her mother was crying too.

Maybe things would turn out better after all.

XxXxXxX

School was difficult, and catching up on the amount of work was a daunting task, especially since she slacked off in every class, not doing any of the required work, and barely paying attention to the tests and readings in class. How she even made it to High School was a wonder in itself as far as she was concerned, but she was prepared to make up for it.

The first day she actually tried in class was a surprise – she was called on to read a section of a chapter the class was currently studying. She used to just ignore it and wait for the teacher to move on, this time she stood up with the book in hand, and began to read the required text. When she stopped, she looked up, and noticed that the class – half of whom took classes with her in middle school – were staring at her in shock, and even her teacher was pleasantly surprised. She took a seat, blushing as the next person got up to read.

The hardest thing she had to do by far was her algebra assignments – she hadn't been the greatest at math even when she did try years ago, and now it looked like a completely different language to her! She didn't know what the dots meant, and why were there x's and y's? Wasn't math about numbers? Why in the world did they need to know this?

No matter what the task, she would just let out a breath, and get to it, determined to put her life back together to obtain the happiness that Ib told her to seek.

She started to do homework with her parents, who were more than willing to help her with her assignments. Mary felt horrible once more, realizing how much trouble she had been subjecting her parents to all these years.

"I don't get it," She finally grumbled, "Why do I need to know this?"

Kohta chuckled, "That's the greatest question in life. I don't even need to know this stuff, they just give it to kids in school to make em work."

Mary smiled, thankful for her father's support. She was thankful that neither of them blamed her for her lack of understand, or told her that the reason she didn't know was because she never paid attention. Instead, they were always willing to go through things upwards of five or six times in a row, and they were understanding and through every single time.

Her social life was still a wreck though. She supposed it might be because of her clothes – she always wore a long sleeve shirt, even when it was warm outside, and she was still hesitant to talk to new people anyway. She didn't know all the rumors going on about her, but she was aware of one where she was apparently a demon, and that anyone who approached her would have bad luck.

Honestly, who in the world would believe in that trash?

Despite the ridiculousness of the rumors about her, they did keep people away from her, which was both a blessing and a curse. She wouldn't even know what the first thing to say to someone would really be beyond 'hello' since she had so little social interaction within the last four years. Whenever someone gave her a polite greeting when she was out in the city, she would shyly greet them back, trying to readjust to normal social circumstances.

She had also started to gain back some weight, which was immensely beneficial to her, since she was almost severely underweight. She started to suspect her mother of putting on a little bit more food on her dish each night, making sure to tell Mary to clean her plate completely. Mary always obliged her, knowing that she needed it, and it didn't hurt that the food was fantastic either.

The biggest change however was the fact that she wasn't seeing Ib anymore. No matter where she went, the girl wouldn't appear. She had begun to get so used to seeing the girl that she was almost uncomfortable now that the ghostly girl was missing. Her nightmares had also disappeared, and for the first time in many, many years, she was starting to get a full nights sleep. The picture that Ib had left her hung on her wall, a reminder to try and be happy, and to do good in her life.

Which brought her to the subject of Garry.

It had been almost a month since that day, and she hadn't seen him not even once. She walked all over in the city some days, looking for the tall man with purple hair. Honestly, it shouldn't have been that hard – he was the only man she knew that even had that hair color! It was quite distinct in a crowd! Despite all the troubles though, she continued to visit the city whenever she wasn't busy with school work or with her parents in an attempt to find him.

It was during one of these visits late into the evening, that she finally spotted the man she was looking for.

She saw him leaning against a building, again with a bottle of some liquor in his hand, and she noticed people walking by without giving a single glance to him, a few people even made a face of disgust as they passed by him. His coat was absolutely filthy looking, and from what she could see, he was looking down at the ground, his eyes distant, and it looked as though he hadn't shaved in weeks.

She hesitantly walked forward, her heart beating more and more in fear. The last time she confronted him she had yelled at him, calling him worthless and so many other things in an attempt to make him hurt her. She almost turned away, but she steeled her resolve – this was for Ib!

"Garry?" She asked, coming forward, kneeling down beside the man. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, and she almost gagged.

He looked up when his name was called, his eyes were unfocused, "Hello?" He asked, his eyes lazily glancing vaguely in her direction.

Mary frowned, realizing that he was absolutely wasted, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fines..." He slurred, looking down at his discarded bottle, and giving a few shakes. Noticing that it was nearly empty, he let out a grunt, and closed his eyes again.

She looked around, and seeing that the crowd of people were giving her questioning looks, she decided that they had to get out of there. She reached forward and grabbed his hand, and gently pulled on it, "Come on, get up, you need to go home and rest."

"I don't need help..." He grumbled, but he did as she asked, and stood up, swaying from side to side. Mary made sure to get to one side of him to support him. He glanced down at her, his eyes focusing on her, "Thanks."

"No problem," She allowed a small smile on her face - this might work out better than she thought after all. Shaking that thought aside for now, she decided to ask, "Where do you live?"

Garry looked to the left and right, his head drooping every now and then, "Iunno." He mumbled, "Somewhere 'round ere."

Mary let out an annoyed sigh, and shook her head humorlessly, "Maybe if we just start walking you'll remember?" She suggested to him.

He nodded, "Ok."

With that stated, she assisted him down the sidewalk to the end of the road, and just took a random direction, figuring that since Garry was drunk here, his home ought to be fairly close. However, she was acutely aware that the daylight was quickly fading, and she was noticing people staring at the two of them, so she tried to rush, despite the fact that the heavily intoxicated Garry was slowing them down quite a bit. She would walk down one street, ask if it was it, and he'd shake his head, and so on and so on.

"How about here?" She asked as the street lights were starting to turn on.

"Yeah," He said, "This looks rights."

Mary helped the taller man towards an apartment, and when they reached the door, Garry unsteadily reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, and tried to place it in the keyhole, but continually failed over and over.

"Here," Mary took the key from him and opened the door, helping him inside.

This time she did actually gag. The stench was absolutely horrendous. The smell of alcohol was so strong she wanted to run out and take a big breath of fresh air, but she stood her ground after the initial shock wore off, and tried to adjust to it. All around the apartment were littered bottles of alcohol, and cans that had been carelessly tossed about.

"Bathroom," He mumbled, leaving her hold and stumbling towards an opened door. Mary heard him throwing up then, but she polite stayed put, not wanting to upset him by going in after him.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked as he came out.

"Little." He groaned.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." She took hold on his arm.

He nodded, "Ok."

The two entered his room, and Mary very politely refused to allow her gaze to wander around his room, and just escorted him over to his bed, and helped him lie down, where he fell like a brick, landing into the bed with a soft sigh. He blinked a few more times, and she could see that he was beginning to regain some clarity, since his eyes were more focused.

"Is that good?" She asked, as he looked up at her, his gaze lingering as a frown slowly formed on his face.

His eyes suddenly focused on her, and he whispered, "Mary?"

She was quiet, but finally answered, "Yes."

His gaze quickly turned into a glare, "Get out." He demanded immediately.

"Ok," She said, "Just allow me to get you covered."

"Out!" He yelled.

Mary bit her bottom lip, this had started out so well too, but understandably he didn't know who she was when she first started helping. Despite his protests, she did cover him up, and then she left the building, being sure to lock the door and close it behind her.

Well, she knew where he was, she just didn't really know how to help him.

XxXxXxX

The next day after school, Mary packed up her assignments and walked out the gates, fully intending on going to Garry's house. A part of her dearly hoped that he was gone, that she wouldn't have to deal with him. However, a much larger part of her wanted to help him, especially since she knew he was suffering just as badly as she was from Ib's death. Steeling her resolve, she went towards the apartments, and walked right up to Garry's door.

She bit her bottom lip, a habit she was beginning to develop for when she was nervous. She lifted her arm, and after hesitating a second or two, she knocked.

She waited for several seconds, considering the possibility of bolting down the street and not dealing with Garry. While she understood his hatred of her, and she did want to make amends, she would have to undoubtedly deal with his cold nature, and the chances of him even giving her the time of day was not very likely. It was when she was wondering whether he was even home or not that the door finally opened.

"Hello." She waved, looking down as she did so.

"So it was you last night," He sighed, "What do you want?"

"C – can we talk?"

He was quiet as he looked her over, and sighed, "Since you brought me home last night..." He opened his door wider, allowing her to enter.

"Thank you." She said sincerely, stepping in and fortunately was able to prevent herself from gagging this time on the smell.

"Sorry for the mess." He said, though he really didn't seem that sorry.

"It's fine," Mary said, "I understand that you've been through a lot."

He laughed, "Is that so?"

"Yes." She nodded, still not daring to look him in the eye.

He shook his head and walked into his kitchen, opening up a cabinet, "I think I have some tea in here, do you want any?"

"If it's not a bother," She answered.

"It's not."

She sat down at the table he had, and didn't say another word, she just stared down at her hands and twiddled her thumbs around for a bit. She nearly jumped when a cup was placed in front of her.

"Thank you."

He grunted in reply, and sat on the opposite side of the table.

Mary picked up the cup, and noticed her hand was shaking as she did so, but she forced herself to drink anyway. Setting the cup back down, she looked over at him, "I – I wanted to apologize."

"That's a first."

Mary tried not to react at the remark, but she still flinched, "I know you're m – mad at me..."

Garry frowned, glancing up at her, and she made the mistake of looking him in the eyes. She saw how lifeless and dull they were. She quickly averted her gaze, feeling her own eyes getting misty with tears – she had ruined his life... S – She was a monster... She shook her head, it wasn't time to travel down that well worn road, she came to make amends.

"Mad it putting it lightly." He said.

"I – I know." Her voice cracked, "What I did was horrible, and I can never take it back, but... I want to try and make things better."

"I don't see how that is possible."

Mary bit her bottom lip again, "I – I know..."

"So you're here to do what, exactly?"

"I saw Ib," She said, "She said that she wanted you to be happy."

At the mention of Ib, he looked down, "Don't say that name."

"B – but..."

"Just don't!" He said loudly, glaring up at her now, "Say your piece and leave."

Mary shook harder, why was it so hard for her to get this out? "I – I'm so sorry." She said, it felt like she had been saying that very often lately, but it was true. "I k – killed her, and I regret it so much..."

"Good."

That did it, she covered her eyes with her hands, crying louder, "I'm sorry! What can I do to get you to forgive me? I – I need to make things better, but I don't know how!"

"You can't." He said, "When I held her in my arms..." He looked down so his dirty hair covered his eyes, and he began to shake, "It's my fault... She's dead because of me..."

Mary looked up in surprise, forgetting about her tears for a moment. Garry had practically said word-for-word what she had told herself for years.

"It's not your fault." Mary said, "Ib told me that she-"

"Out!" He shouted, "I don't care what your delusions told you!"

"What?"

He glared at her, tears falling from his own eyes now, "You think that by making me happy that everything will suddenly be better? Do you seriously believe that will let you repent for what you've done?" He growled, "Get out!"

Mary immediately stood, nearly knocking her chair down, "Garry, please..."

"Just go!"

She collapsed to the floor, bowing to him, "Please, forgive me! I will do anything to make you forgive me!"

"OUT!" He screamed as loud as he could, causing Mary to yet again jump, and she looked up at the man, her bottom lip trembled as he glared at her, his lifeless eyes boring into her, "I don't want to talk with you ever again."

Mary shakily got to her feet, "Good bye..." She mumbled, turning around and walking out the door. She closed it behind her, and only looked down at the cement as she walked to her own home. It was quite a distance away, especially since she wasn't using the bus, but she wanted to think. Maybe this was pointless, trying to redeem herself. Maybe Garry was right, and she was just seeing a illusion of Ib, in an attempt to make herself feel better.

Her right arm unconsciously rubbed at the multiple scars along her left wrist and arm. Maybe... Maybe she should just do what she initially wanted to do a month ago.

She made it home, and walked directly into her room, and pulled the knife out from under her bed, and pulled her sleeve back, and used her bed as a makeshift table.

It had been a while since she even looked at the scars, and she rubbed them, "Maybe I should just end it all now. It would be easy for me to do it." She slowly rose the knife, again closing her eyes and looking away, she gritted her teeth and felt her tears freely fall. She slammed the knife down.

She didn't feel pain.

She opened her eyes, and looked down at her arm, and noticed that the knife had pierced the mattress to the left of her wrist where she intended to stab. She looked up and around the room to see if Ib was there and had stopped her again. No one was there however, and her gaze turned back to the knife. She had averted its course through her own will – she didn't want to die. She frowned, and pulled the knife out of the mattress, and walked over to her waste basket, dropping it in there.

Killing herself wouldn't solve anything, it was the coward's way out. Garry would still be unhappy, and Ib's parents – her parents – would be especially unhappy with their daughter gone. She knew the pain of loss all too well, and didn't want to inflict it on anyone else.

Ib didn't say this would be easy.

"I – I'll try again tomorrow." She decided, lowering her sleeve back down her arm and wiping her eyes, "I'll help Garry, whether he wants me to or not."


	3. My Happy Ending

My Happy Ending

Unfortunately, when she went to Garry's house the following day, no one answered, despite the fact that she stayed outside of his door for upward of five minutes. The day after was no better in that regard. Mary was unsure if Garry was simply avoiding her, or had some obligations to fill, but she didn't feel very good about it either way. In a way, she was glad that it was delayed, but she knew that the sooner it was done, the sooner she'd be feeling better.

In the meantime, she continued to catch up on her school work, and she stayed behind one day to talk to one of her professors. As she walked out of the front door of the school, she noticed someone standing outside the school gates.

"Garry?" She said in surprise, walking over to the tall purple-haired man.

Garry was trying to seem inconspicuous, but given that he was clearly older than the entire crowd, he was the only one in the whole group with that hair color, and his clothes were pretty ragged and worn, it was obvious that he didn't belong.

When he spotted her, Mary could have sworn he looked almost thankful, "Mary."

"Hello." She answered, feeling eyes peering at her. Her reputation was already bad, and she was almost afraid to see what the rumors will be like now that they're seeing her interacting with Garry, "Why are you here?"

He sighed, "I thought about what you said to me the other day..."

Mary didn't want to rush him, but he just stopped, "So you want to talk?"

"I guess." He grumbled, "I – I don't like you, in fact, I despise you, but the least I can do is be civil with you if you're willing to talk."

Mary bit her bottom lip at his admission of how much he disliked her, but nodded her head, "That is all I want."

"Then where to?"

"Somewhere private." She answered, "Um, I hear some people talking about a Karaoke Bar that just recently opened..."

Garry nodded, "Can you pay for yourself?"

Mary nodded, "I can."

"Good," Garry sighed, "Then I suppose we can go there."

The two walked to the destination awkwardly. This was the longest the two have been together without Garry yelling at her since that nightmare almost six years ago. They stayed at quite a distance, and both were very quiet, Mary leading by a small margin so she could lead Garry to the establishment. Once they got there, Garry took the lead, which Mary was thankful for.

"We'd like to rent a box," He said, pulling out his wallet.

"For how long?"

"An hour should be fine," Garry said.

The man behind the counter gave the duo an odd look, but he said nothing as he told them the room number and gave them the keys. Garry politely thanked the man, and the two walked down a darkened hallway lit up by neon lights. If the situation wasn't so serious, Mary would have liked to explore a bit longer, but she held in her childish impulses, and followed Garry to their designated box.

Once inside, Garry locked the door, turned on the lights, and tossed the keys onto the table, and the two sat across from one another. The room was fairly small, being able to accommodate maybe five people comfortably. There was a small section with several chairs and a single couch surrounding a table, and then off to the other end of the room was a karaoke stage.

"I don't suppose you want to sing?" Garry asked.

"Not really." Mary answered.

He grunted, "Figured."

They just stared at one another now, neither really knowing what to say to the other. Mary bit her bottom lip again, chewing it a little as she kept glancing up at Garry, and then back down at the table to the keys. She looked up and saw his clothes, and stupidly decided to comment on it.

"Is that the same coat?"

"Yeah," He answered.

"It's pretty warm outside though..."

"You're the one wearing a long-sleeve shirt," He said, pointing out her green shirt, causing her to subconsciously scratch at the multiple wounds she inflicted upon herself.

Another long silence.

"Look," He said, "You were the one who wanted to talk to me, so what is it? Are you just going to waste my time?"

"No..." She mumbled, looking aside.

"Then spit it out!" He said, getting a bit aggressive.

Her lips trembled, "I – I'm sorry."

"I've heard that before."

"I mean it." She insisted, "I – I'm really, really sorry!"

Garry sighed, and leaned back, looking away from the girl, "Then can I ask you a question?"

"Ok..."

"Why'd you do it?"

"K – kill her?"

He nodded, turning his gaze back onto her.

"I – I wanted out of that world," She admitted, "I remember longing for years to go outside and see the sun. I wondered what it felt like to smell fresh air... I was so scared when I couldn't find you, and there was I – Ib..." She shook a bit and wrapped her sleeved arms around herself, "I decided to take her rose to ensure that I could get out, in case if you already escaped. I – I really regret it now..." She cried, "I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing." Garry growled, "It changes nothing."

"I really, really regret it." She said, wiping her eyes with her sleeves, "I know you don't believe me, but I wish I had died in there instead – you and Ib belong here, I shouldn't have tried to escape..." She gritted her teeth, trying not to cry out, and finally she let out a deep breath, "I've tried killing myself..." She rolled down her sleeves, and showed him her scars, "The pain from this make me forget sometimes... Other times I wanted to die and dug a little deeper..."

Garry blinked in surprise at the injuries, "You did that to yourself?"

She sniffled, and just nodded.

He shook his head, "I see."

"I completely understand your hatred." Mary said, "In fact, I completely agree with it. I hate myself for what I've done... I don't see what Ib does. I don't understand how she thinks I can be happy..." Mary covered her eyes again, trying to recompose herself.

Garry leaned forward, and looked at her, "You mentioned that you saw Ib, right?"

With her eyes still covered, Mary just nodded.

"What did she tell you then?"

"To be happy."

"What?"

"She wanted us to be happy." Mary said clearer this time, still not looking up, "She wants us to stop blaming ourselves for what happened."

"I can't do that." He said, "Even if it were real, and not your guilty conscious, I doubt I could do it even then."

"Why?"

"She died in my arms," He said, calling back to what he had said in his apartment the other day, "I promised her that I would get her help, and in the end I couldn't. When I saw you with her parents, Ib's loving parents... I couldn't handle it. I wanted to kill you, especially since they forgot about her and thought YOU were their daughter!" He looked down, trying hard not to let any tears fall, "It's not fair... How could you get away with murder, and not only that, you took everything from her too..."

"I know..." Mary said.

"You should have waited."

"What?" Mary asked, finally looking up, despite her obvious tears.

"In the other world," He said, "I was still in that toy box or whatever... You could have taken my rose, I would have given it to you in exchange for Ib's rose."

"But then you'd have died..."

"Better me than Ib." He said, "That's how it should have gone."

"N – No..." Mary mumbled, but she knew that back then, if that had been the case, she would have gladly tore apart Garry's rose. The mere realization made her cover her eyes again in complete sorrow – how could she have been so horrible?

"I picked up drinking afterwards," He said, "After everything that happened to me in the museum, and then some personal issues came up out here, I just... couldn't handle it all. I would drink until I forgot where I was, and sometimes I could forget that you even exist." He bitterly laughed, "Those were probably the best times I've had these past six years, because I never had to think about you or Ib."

"You shouldn't do that..." Mary mumbled.

"Oh?" He said, "You had nightmares too, right?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, "If I drink enough, I don't dream, which is what I would call a successful night."

"What do you dream about?" Mary asked, dreading the answer.

"I see her." He mumbled, "Dying in my arms, with nothing I can do about it..."

Another long silence occurred.

Garry suddenly started laughing, making Mary look up quickly, and she saw tears beginning to come from his eyes, "It's funny." He bitterly laughed, "How a girl I barely knew for twelve hours, maybe even less than that, has traumatized me to this extent..." He covered his eyes, "I've been contemplating suicide too you know... Each time I think about it, the idea becomes more and more convincing... I've got no friends, no family, no one there for me... No one would miss me."

"NO!" Mary stood up and shouted loudly, "How could you think that?!"

"What do you care?" He asked, "I figured you'd be happy that I'm out of the picture."

"Wha – what?" She asked. Did he seriously think so little of her? "You're such an idiot!" She said shaking all over, "idiot, idiot, idiot!"

Garry frowned, "Cut it out."

"You're too nice! You're too caring and compassionate! You can't die! Ib wouldn't want that!"

"Ib's dead."

"I wouldn't want that!" She shouted.

"What?"

"I don't want you to die!"

"Why?"

"After everything you've been through all these years, you don't deserve it!"

"I don't need your pity." He grunted.

Mary surprised even herself when she launched herself across the table and wrapped Garry in a rough hug, despite knowing that he actively hated her. She didn't know what else to do or say to try and convince him that his death was absolutely meaningless. Garry was too surprised to even yell at her, but after a short bit, he surprised her by wrapping his arms around her, and hugging her back. She tried to hold it in, but that did it, she started to cry into his shoulder, and he held her, gently rubbing the back of her head and neck in an attempt to calm her down.

"I guess you've been suffering just as bad..."

She nodded into her shirt, still crying.

"I may never forgive you for what you've done-"

"I know." Mary said quickly.

"-but I guess I can try. I have nothing to lose at this point."

Mary hugged him tighter, "You'll be my friend?"

"Friend is a bit much," He said, "But something like that, I guess."

Mary was too happy that Garry was finally willing to at least talk with her, and even be friendly with her. Even if he still held any resentments towards her, she was just so happy to have someone who understood her.

She finally parted from him, wiping her eyes, "I think together we can get through this."

"I don't know," Garry mumbled, "I don't know if I can ever really be happy anymore."

"I don't know either." Mary admitted, "But I'm willing to try."

"Me too." Garry said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief.

"Is that?"

"Yeah," Garry said, "I kept it all these years as a reminder." He then handed it to her, "Here."

"But... It's yours." Mary said.

"I think... That getting rid of this will be the first step I can take to recovery. I can remember Ib well enough in my head, I don't need any other reminders."

Mary took it, gently touching the dirty fabric, and looking up, "I – I'll clean it for you."

"Look, like I said-"

Mary shook her head, "It's not wrong to have memories of people you miss," She put it in her pocket, "Having a memento of a loved one is not bad."

Garry nodded, "I suppose so."

"I'll clean it and I'll give it back to you, because we'll meet again!"

Garry chuckled, "That's... ok with me."

XxXxXxX

Mary's daily routine had shifted after that conversation with Garry, while she didn't consider themselves friends quite yet, she did start going to his house after school, and the two of them began to clean the place up. Garry continually insisted that he didn't need her help, but she was having none of it, and soon his apartment was cleaned up, looking pretty darn good, considering it had been comparable to a trash dump not even a week prior.

Mary smiled as she looked across the apartment, "Now this is habitable."

"And it wasn't before?" Garry asked, pulling out a cigarette and lighter.

She frowned at the sight of them, but didn't say anything. Garry let out a puff of smoke, and turned towards her, "Feeling happy yet?"

She laughed, "It'll take more work than that, I suspect."

"Bummer." He sighed.

Garry had told her his work schedule soon after, so she wouldn't waste her time coming over when he was out working. She slowly began to adjust her schedule more and more, going over to Garry's house when he was there just to provide him company and do her homework at the same time. It was a win-win situation as far as she was concern. Garry even began to help her occasionally whenever he asked her what she was up to, which was a plus too.

Of course, all days weren't very good. Occasionally, one of them would have what they considered to be a 'bad' day, when they just felt depressed. Generally they just tried to keep each other company during those times, and it was pretty quiet. That day it was Mary's bad day, and she had gone to Garry's house when she felt the urge to go grab a knife, telling her parents she would be gone for a while. When she got to his house, Garry didn't say a word, and just let the girl in.

Mary stared down at her exposed arms as she sat on the couch, and nervously itched the scars.

"Here's some tea." Garry said, setting a cup down on the table in his living room.

Mary nodded politely, "D – do you think we're doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?"

"I looked at my – Ib's mom – and it just hit me, that she isn't really mine. I – I stole..."

"Stop it." He said immediately, "We promised not to go down this road again, right?"

"I know..." She mumbled, "I just... I can't help it."

He nodded, "I know the feeling."

Mary couldn't argue with that, because she knew that he did understand her pain.

"You're apparently adopted though," Garry started.

"So what?" Mary asked, sounding mildly offended.

"That means that you didn't really steal them, you know."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because you're not of their blood," He sighed, "How can you steal them when you're not even related to them?"

"They still consider me their daughter, and they don't remember Ib."

Garry frowned, "Ok, maybe you have a point."

Mary wanted to be annoyed, but she couldn't help but let out a chuckle, "I hate you sometimes."

"Oh?"

"I just want to mope around, and you go and say something dumb like that..."

He smiled now, "Got you to laugh though, so that counts for something, right?"

She sighed, "I guess so... I'm sorry, I know I'm being dumb right now."

"Don't worry, happens to me too sometimes."

"Yeah, I know..." She leaned back on the couch, and looked up at the ceiling, "I hope there will be a time in my life when I never feel like this."

"Me too." Garry said, sitting beside her, "Now come on, drink some tea at least."

Mary sat up, and covered her scars again, "Ok."

And so the weeks passed into months, and the two continued to be with one another fairly often, the days they got depressed came further and further apart from one another. Mary had regained a lot of the weight she had lost over the years, coming back to a much more healthy size, and Garry was also reforming, shaving more often and eating better too. He still had one pesky habit that annoyed the crap out of Mary though, and she did her damn best to try and stomp it out.

The two were in Garry's house again, since it was snowing outside, and the two really had nothing better to do. The TV was on in front of them, and they simply watched it with one another. That was until Garry pulled out his lighter, and cigarettes, and pulled one out. When he put it in his mouth, Mary reached over quickly and pulled it out.

"Hey." He said lightly, "Don't do that."

"It smells horrible." She countered.

"I know. I'm trying to quit."

"You know it's killing you every time you have one."

Garry rolled his eyes, "So I've heard."

"At least open up a window or go outside." She said.

He sighed, and stood up and went over to the window, opening it up and letting in quite a bit of cold air. He smiled when he saw her glare over at him and grab a nearby blanket that he had on the couch, wrapping herself up.

"Stupid Garry, and his stupid smoking..."

"Hey now," He said, "It's not that bad, is it? You can't smell it, right?"

"It's not the smoke now! It's that it's cold outside!"

"You're the one who asked for it."

She groaned, "I'm going to buy you a nicotine patch, or an electric cigarette, and you can do that instead. I'm sick of smelling smoke."

"You do that." He said, turning back towards the window and blowing out a puff of smoke.

Mary's performance in school began to drastically increase over the months that she and Garry reconciled, to the point where she was even beginning to excel in Math. Her parents were so proud of her, and even Garry would smile and congratulated her whenever she told him that she aced a difficult test. There was even one time when she came to Garry's house, her face red and she was breathing heavily.

He frowned as he looked down at her, "Did you just finish a marathon?"

She shook her head, and handed him a note. He raised an eyebrow, and took it, allowing the girl in, and the two sat down at the couch. He noticed that the note was a report card, and he looked down at the grades, and let out a whistle.

She smiled, "I – I wanted to show you."

"You did amazing." He said, handing it back to her, "Straight A's. Are you sure you were slacking off for four years?"

"I was," She said, "But it's because of you and my parents that I managed to do this!"

"You're giving me way too much credit." He chuckled.

He didn't expect Mary to jumped at him and hug him, "Thank you so much for your help!"

"Um..." He gently pat her back, "You're welcome."

She let go and sat down next to him, nearly bursting from the seams with excitement, "I can't wait to show it to my parents!"

"Do they reward you for good grades?"

"Not really," Mary said, waving it off, "I just can't wait to show them how well I've been doing is all!"

"Then maybe I can get you something as a reward?"

"What?" She looked over to him in surprise, "You'd do that?"

He nodded, "Of course... You've..." He frowned, "You've changed..."

"You mean...?"

"Yeah," He looked her in the eyes, "You're different from back then. I think you really did see Ib, and really do regret what you did. I think that you've become a much better person as a result."

She bit her bottom lip, "Then... We're friends?"

He chuckled, "I think we have been for a few months now, I guess we should make it official now."

Mary cheered, and wrapped her arms around him yet again, "Thank you Garry! I promise I'll be the best friend I can possibly be!"

He pat her on the back, "I'll take you out to this cafe that that has some Macaroons. It has been years since I've last had any, and I've had a craving for some for a while now."

It was soon after that that they both realized that they hadn't had a 'bad' day in over a month, and Garry finally called Mary over one evening, asking if she'd like to be present for what he was about to do. When she got there, she saw that he had several large bottles of alcohol – vodka, whiskey, even some rum on the table in his kitchen, and she ran over to him.

"What are you doing?" She cried, "You can't drink!"

"I don't intend to." He said, "I'm gonna dump them down the drain. I'm wondering if you want to help me?"

"You're quitting?" She asked.

"Sure am." He chuckled, "We'll see how long I'll last."

"It's not like you're quitting cold turkey," She said, 'You've been drinking less and less for a while now."

"I just hope I'm properly weened off of it now." He got a corkscrew and popped opened one of the bottles, and smelled the liquor, "I might actually miss this stuff."

Mary picked up a bottle and opened hers, and didn't even hesitate as she started to dump it into the sink. Garry watched the red liquid circle down the drain, and he finally let out a sigh and did it to the one he was holding. Within a few minutes, it was all gone.

"How do you feel?" Mary asked, sitting down next to him at the kitchen table where all the empty bottles were now.

"I feel kind of scared I guess." He admitted, "It's been a while since I've gone to bed without drinking even a little bit. I really hope I don't see her dying..."

Mary put her hand on his shoulder, "You'll be fine. You're changing for the better, and I'm sure Ib would really appreciate what you're doing."

"I hope so." He sighed, "Sorry I bothered you to come out here."

"It's fine," She said immediately, "I like helping you."

He smiled, "Thanks."

She returned his smile, "No problem."

That night, Garry slept soundly, and even nearly overslept for work.

Months later, during the summer, Mary was bizarrely insistent that he go over to her house, despite the fact that her parents would try to punch him out when they saw who he was. Mary kept insisting more and more, and Garry, in a moment of weakness, finally agreed to it, and one night he went over. He had combed his hair and put on some of his better clothes, but he still felt nervous – why did Mary want this?!

"This is Garry!" Mary introduced, "He's my best friend!"

Kohta's eyes narrowed, "What have you been doing with my daughter?"

Oh god, he remembered him. Garry let out a forced laugh, "We've just been hanging out..."

"How old are you?"

"Um, I'll be twenty-seven in a few weeks." He answered honestly.

Kohta was about to open his mouth, when Mary cut in.

"He's the reason I stopped being so depressed all the time! He helped me get back on track and start doing well in school, and I just wanted you guys to know that... Do you not like him?"

Garry was amazed with Mary's acting, her big blue eyes got watery when the idea that her parents might not approve of him came up.

"Um... Well... Mary... Don't you remember?" Her dad hesitantly asked.

"Remember what?"

"At the museum? He was the one who..."

"He wasn't trying to hurt me!" She said, "He just wanted to talk is all!"

Kohta frowned and looked at Garry, "We remember things differently..."

Saya was a lot more receptive however, "So you're the one who made it so Mary could start behaving like herself again?"

"She gives me too much credit," He said, "I just talked to her whenever she was depressed."

"Oh don't be modest." Saya laughed, "I'm very thankful for what you've done – it's because of you that she was finally able to stop taking medication and focus on school work and stop moping around all the time."

He sighed, might as well play along with the lie Mary came up with, "I guess so."

In the end, Kohta still didn't really appreciate him, but he had at least allowed him to stay over for dinner, where the conversation at the table was fairly light. Since then, Mary had a habit of dragging Garry to her house at least once a month, and wouldn't take no for an answer, ever.

Things after that had been going pretty good for almost an entire year, Mary, now seventeen was out shopping with Garry, acting more and more like her older self. She would run over to stores she liked and try to drag Garry inside of them. Depending on the store, Garry would either go in with her, or wait outside. Of course, one thing Garry absolutely dreaded each and every time they came out was when Mary wanted to try clothes shopping.

"Do you think these would look good on me?" She asked.

"Sure."

"No... I don't think blue is really my color..." She mumbled, "How about green?"

"Don't you always wear green?"

"It's my color." She insisted, "I like it! I'm going to go try it on."

"Ok." He sighed, walked with her to the changing rooms, where he sat outside. She had picked out a green dress as usual, and was downright giddy as she went in to try it on. Garry let out a moan as he was finally able to sit down, unsure of how Mary had so much stamina for standing up for so long, or how she could stand doing this for more than two minutes.

"How do I look?" She asked, stepping out. The dress didn't have sleeves for her arms, but it hardly mattered since she had on some arm warmers that Garry had bought for her on her Birthday on October 23rd the previous year. The girl adored them, and had appreciated them so much that she wore them every single day, even at school. She said she especially liked the color, which was green, as usual.

"You look fine." He said, hoping that his mustered enthusiasm would be enough.

She put her arms on her hips as she looked in the mirror, "I dunno..."

Oh no, please. Let this be the end. Garry was about ready to stab himself in the eyes at this point.

"You know what, I think I'll splurge a little and buy it," She smiled towards Garry, "I really like it."

"Good." He said, getting up and stretching, his legs protesting getting up so soon, "Can we leave now?"

"You're bored?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm sorry, but yes."

She looked down, momentarily ashamed, "I'm sorry... I was just having fun and..."

"It's ok." He said, "I had no plans for today anyway, so we might as well do what you want to do."

"I wish I had a friend interested in shopping..." She sighed.

"Why don't you make some then?" Garry asked.

"I don't like talking with strangers."

"You seem pretty sociable to me."

"But you're you. I don't know if I could talk to someone I don't know..."

"I'm positive you can," He gave the girl a pat on the shoulder, "You have a good attitude."

And so the next day Mary set out to try to talk to some girls at her school. The rumors about her had died down since her first year, since she was doing so well to be the honor roll each year. She was well known as a top student, so she thankfully didn't receive much teasing in that regard. Unfortunately, her attempts at social conduct left much to be desired...

"Hello." She said, walking up to two girls who had been talking.

"Hello?"

"Um... Do you want to hang out?" Mary asked.

The girls frowned, "Do we know you?"

"No..." Mary mumbled, feeling bad all the sudden. She let the silence between the three of them thicken, and the two girls finally just gave her an odd look and walked away.

"That was odd." A boy said from the other side of the hallway, he was hanging up posters and the like, stapling them onto the board.

"Yeah..." Mary muttered.

The boy's brown eyes looked at her curiously, "You're trying to make friends?"

Mary nodded, walking over to him.

"You remind me of Rin," He chuckled, "She's pretty awkward around people she doesn't know either, not to mention she also has blonde hair."

"Oh..."

The boy sighed, "Look, uh, what's your name?"

"Mary."

"Ok, Mary. If you want, I can introduce you to Rin. She's going off to a different high school dedicated to art, but you two might hit it off."

"You'd do that?" Mary asked.

"Sure." He said, putting up another poster, "The name's Junichi by the way."

"Th – then maybe I can introduce you two to Garry?"

"A friend of yours?" Junichi asked.

"Yeah!"

Junichi shrugged, "Why not. It's not often that I get to be friends with one of the top ranking students in the school."

That weekend, Mary and Garry met up with Junichi and Rin, and while the initial meeting was awkward, with both Junichi and Rin uncertain about Garry, but Mary was able to talk them into hanging out with her and Garry regardless. Mary was able to be coaxed out of her shell soon enough, and it was clear that she and Rin really began to hit it off – The two girls dragged both Garry and Junichi with them shopping, and the boys lagged behind.

"I'm sorry to drag you into this too." Garry sighed, "I told her to get some friends."

Junichi laughed, "I'm used to it. Rin takes me with her to do this constantly."

"I can't imagine your pain." Garry said.

"I love her, so it's ok." He shrugged, "It's balanced out when we do things I prefer to do. We both gotta make little sacrifices here and there."

Garry smiled, "It sounds like Rin is very lucky to have you."

"So uh, are you and Mary...?"

Garry sputtered, "What? No! She's just a friend. We've known each other for a long time, and only just started to hang out with one another about two years ago."

Junichi nodded, "I see."

Garry let out a breath.

"I think she likes you."

Garry rolled his eyes, "I doubt it. I'm just the only friend she has had in a long time."

Junichi sighed, "If you say so."

Since that day, Mary and Rin were almost inseparable, and they almost always took Garry and Junichi with them. Neither was too annoyed though, since they were glad that the girls had become such great friends. Another month passed, and one day Mary passed Junichi hanging up some ads on the school board, and she stopped to examine them.

"Hey Mary." Junichi said.

"Hello." She said, staring at one ad in particular.

"Whatcha lookin at?" Junichi asked.

She pointed to one of the posters entitled 'Help Out The Community!'. Junichi gave her an odd look, but read it along with her.

"I should do some of these – give back to the community."

"I guess." Junichi shrugged.

"Would you and Rin be willing to help me?"

"Sure, I guess?"

Mary smiled, "I'll see if Garry will do it too!"

Garry was not amused that he had been dragged along to do community service, but he kept his complaints to himself, and mellowed out a bit when he realized that it wasn't only high school students doing it. Rin and Mary were again doing it together, helping by picking up trash on the streets, helping out elderly people at their homes, and washing graffiti from the walls of buildings. It was hard work, but it was rewarding.

Rin looked over to Mary, wiping her brow, her hair was wrapped behind her head, and she noticed the hand warmers that Mary was wearing, despite the warm weather, "Mary?"

Mary looked to her friend, "What is it?"

"I've always wondered... Why do you wear those?"

Mary looked down at her green hand warmers and frowned.

"I – if you don't want to tell me, that's ok."

"No, you're my friend." Mary said. She let out a sigh, and pulled one off, and showed off her wrist and arm to Rin, who let out a startled gasp.

"Y – You cut yourself?"

"It has been years." Mary assured her, "I was really, really depressed. I had to take medication for it and everything. I lost a lot of weight and was just wasting away..."

"Mary..."

She smiled, "It's ok. I got better. An old friend of mine told me that she didn't want to see me crying and being depressed anymore, and I decided she was right, so I tried my best to improve my life."

Rin smiled back, "I'm glad."

Mary put her arm warmer back on, and picked up the sponge and continued to wipe off the graffiti, "I'm glad too. To be honest though, I don't think I would have recovered at all if it weren't for Garry."

Rin looked over, "You like him, don't you?"

"Maybe a little..." Mary mumbled, "But I don't think anything will come of it. You might not believe me, but back then he hated me."

"Garry?" Rin asked in surprise. The Garry she knew was far too kind to ever hate someone.

"I did something really, really bad..." Mary said, her eyes glazed over as she recalled the memories, "He had every right to hate me. I'm amazed that he became as close as he did."

"It's good that you two get well together," Rin said.

"I think so too." Mary said, smiling over at Rin.

"Hey! Rin! Mary!" Junichi called, and the two looked over to see Garry and Junichi were walking down the sidewalk towards them.

Rin cast Mary another look, "You should ask him."

"I couldn't." Mary said, shaking her head, "I don't want to ruin what we have..."

Rin didn't get a chance to respond to that, since the guys made it to them, but she did give Mary a meaningful look as Garry walked over and pat her head. Mary just looked away and blushed.

XxXxXxX

"Help me out, won't you Garry?" Mary asked, from his kitchen table, where she had papers and papers of assignments she had to do before finals. There was only one month before the eighteen year old had to take final exams, and she had to score very well, since they would be an example of herself to everyone for as long as she lived.

"You haven't needed my help for over a year now," Garry said, "You could tutor ME on that stuff, half of it is gibberish to me!"

Mary let out a huff, and looked over at Garry who was lazing around on the couch.

He laughed and got up, petting her hair as he sat next to her, "Ok, what do you need me to do?"

"Here," She pointed at some calculus problems she was having trouble with, "You're good at math right, do you understand this?"

"Let me try it out," He said, writing it down on a piece of notebook paper, keeping it away from her eye. He went to the answer booklet, and matched it up with what he did, and he smiled, "Ok, yeah, I still got this."

She smiled, "Great! Now you can teach it to me!"

"Just use the book."

"I've told you, the book makes no sense!"

Garry chuckled, "I've heard that, yes."

She smacked him lightly on the head, "Then teach me!"

Garry nodded, and began to go through the problem for her. They stayed like that for near an hour, Garry helping her with Calculus, trigonometry, and some statistics.

"I hate math." She groaned, leaning back on her chair.

"It's six o'clock." Garry noted, seeing the time on his stove in the kitchen. Mary pulled out her cellphone to check for herself.

"Then that's it for now," She got up, "Ready to go?"

"I don't know," He admitted, "Maybe we should wait until after your finals?"

"No," She shook her head, "I think now is a good time. We'll never get to it if we push it off."

Garry nodded, "I know, I know. It's just... It's going to be hard."

Mary nodded, "Yeah."

Garry stood, and put on a jacket. It was late March, and it was still a bit chilly outside. Mary meanwhile made sure to put on her arm warmers, and then she put on her coat, which was, in a shocking turn, was white – her mother had talked her into trying other colors than green. While white technically wasn't a color, it was a refreshing change of pace.

The two left the house, and walked over to the bus stop.

"You're sure you don't want me to just drive us?" Garry asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Mary answered.

Garry shrugged, and soon the bus came, and they boarded. The ride there was quiet, both of them not having much to say. Fortunately, the ride passed by quickly enough, and the two got off at the arts museum, located a decent way away from Garry's apartment.

"Ready?" Mary asked, turning towards Garry.

"I guess." Garry sighed.

They looked up at the museum they stopped at, and a rather large sign was up, boasting about how today they were showcasing Guertena's artwork. Garry frowned and looked down to the ground. Mary was next to him however, and put her arm on his shoulder, and the two continued forward.

They walked by the receptionist's desk, and had to sign in, putting down their name and phone number. Other than that, they were allowed in.

Mary watched as Garry looked down at the ground, and every time they passed some sort of artwork, he would shake and grip his fists tightly.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," He sighed, "I'm just remembering..."

Mary kept a hold on his arm, "It's ok."

"I know." He sighed, and the two finally stopped in front of the picture they had come here to see. As before, it depicted a little girl holding a red, her eyes closed, as if she was sleeping. The two just looked at it for a while, not moving.

"Hello, Ib." Mary spoke up, glad that no one was there except for Garry beside her, "I did as you asked... I tried my best to become happy, and I think I've succeeded." She let out a breath, "I think I will always remember what I did to you, and I don't think I will ever really get over it, but I suppose I had to stop moping around all day and actually do something. Garry and I are good friends now thanks to you, so..."

Garry looked over at the girl to see that she was crying. He pat her on the shoulder, "It's ok, you can cry if you need to."

Mary sniffled, "I'm fine."

"Good." Garry smiled, looking up at Ib, "You'll always be in my mind. Like Mary here I don't think I'll ever forget when you died in my arms. I honestly didn't know you very well, but I wish I had, if Mary is any indication, your parents would have brought you up to be a great person."

He looked aside, towards Mary.

"I guess this is good bye." Mary said, looking at the portrait.

Garry nodded, "We're going to try and let the past go here."

"You'll always be with us though," Mary added, "We won't leave you behind."

"Of course," Garry said, "We're a party of three after all."

"I hope you're happy, wherever you are." Mary added.

At that, the two stood still, just looking at the painting, and then they turned around to leave. They went to the receptionist's desk, signed out, and walked out into the crisp March air. The two were the only ones waiting at the bus stop surprisingly, but Mary preferred it that way, it would give her the courage to do what she was about to do. Garry in the mean time had took out some gum and started to chew it, a replacement while he quit smoking.

Mary reached for his hand, and gripped it tightly in her own.

"Garry?" Mary whispered.

"What is it?" He asked gently, noticing her hand placement, but not doing anything to stop it.

"Would you like to go out sometime? To dinner I mean?"

He smiled, "Yes, I think I would."

She smiled too.

Everything was going to be all right.

XxXxXxX

Notes:

I didn't like Mary in the game at all, but some people really did seem to like her, and surprisingly liked the ending where she murdered Garry and gets away with it. I started this story with the objective of making a situation where I could like Mary despite her murdering someone - in this case, Ib. Garry's character reflects my own opinions on her when it comes to her in the 'Together Forever' ending.

This is probably the darkest story I've written, I usually like more idealistic stories and happier themes, but when it comes to Mary those things are nearly impossible to have together. It did end on a high note though, because I absolutely detest sad or bittersweet endings that slide too much toward the bitter side.

I've scrapped the idea to combine this and 'Years Gone By' together. I'm just about burned out when it comes to Ib related material. I'm trying to figure out an outline for what I could do for a story where Ib and Mary get out and Garry dies, since I've already done a Garry and Ib survive story, and a Garry and Mary survive story. I just can't figure out something interesting that I would like to write. I'm also considering a story where all three of them somehow get out, but I'm not even pass the outline stage on any of these ideas.

Like I said though, I'm a bit burned out on Ib, so don't expect results from these for a long time, if ever.

Thank you for reading!


End file.
